Russian Reform and Reaction: Triumphs and Turmoil

1. Chapter 23 Nationalism Triumphs in Europe Section 5 Russian Reform and Reaction

2. Setting the Scene Although serfdom had almost disappeared in Western Europe by the 1700s, it survived and spread in Russia. Masters exercised almost total power over their serfs. In the 1800s, a noble described the brutal treatment of serfs: "I heard ... stories of men and women torn from their families and their villages, and sold, or lost in gambling, or exchanged for a couple of hunting dogs, and then transported to some remote part of Russia to create a [master's] new estate; ... of children taken from their parents and sold to cruel masters” Reformers hoped to free Russia from autocratic rule, economic backwardness, and social injustice. But efforts to modernize Russia had little success, as czars imprisoned critics or sent them into icy exile in Siberia.

3. I. Conditions in Russia By 1815, Russia was the largest and most populous nation in Europe and a great world power

4. I. Conditions in Russia Peter the Great and Catherine the Great tried to westernize Russia, but it remained economically undeveloped

5. I. Conditions in Russia One obstacle was the rigid social structure - landowning nobles, a small middle class, and a majority of serfs

6. II. Russian Absolutism Czars ruled with absolute power and resisted reforms that would undermine their power

7. II. Russian Absolutism Czar Alexander I, grandson of Catherine the Great - On November 19, 1825 in the town of Taganrog, he is claimed to have faked his own death, disappearing to become a monk named Kuzmich, wandering the forests of Siberia for years afterward In 1801, Alexander I seemed open to liberal ideas but feared losing the support of nobles

8. II. Russian Absolutism The Decembrist revolt or the Decembrist uprising was attempted in Imperial Russia by army officers who led about 3,000 Russian soldiers on December 14, 1825. Because these events occurred in December, the rebels were called the Decembrists When Alexander I died, a group of army officers led an uprising known as the Decembrist Revolt

9. II. Russian Absolutism Nicholas saw himself as God's general in charge of Russia's well-being and every citizen as his subordinate. He insisted his will be followed at all times and ruled the Empire personally and believed in "One Tsar, One Faith, One Nation" Nicholas I suppressed the Decembrists and all dissent, banned books from Western Europe and jailed or exiled liberals Czar Nicholas I 1796-1855

10. II. Russian Absolutism Nicholas I embraced the three pillars of Russian absolutism - "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationalism” Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, Moscow Romanoff Czar’s Coat of Arms Czar Alexander

11. II. Russian Absolutism The Crimean War (1854-56) seriously weakened both Austrian & Russian powers; A humiliating defeat for Russia by Turkey, France, England, Sardinia & Austria Alexander II came to the throne in 1855 during the Crimean War, which Russia lost and revealed the country's backwardness

12. II. Russian Absolutism The reign of Alexander II is marked by contrasts; while Alexander II was known as the "Tsar-Liberator" for his emancipation of the Russian serfs, he also reigned over one of the most repressive periods in Russian history and faced numerous attempts on his life, ultimately resulting in his assassination. In 1861 Alexander II issued a decree that required emancipation of the serfs

13. II. Russian Absolutism Alexander II implemented important reforms in national, military and municipal organization. He also rethought foreign policy: Russia now refrained from overseas expansion and concentrated on strengthening its borders. In 1867, he sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the United States. His greatest foreign policy achievement was the successful war of 1877-8 against the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the liberation of Bulgaria Other changes were government, military and legal reforms, and easing censorship

14. IV. Reaction to Change Alexander's reforms failed to satisfy many Russians and in 1881, he was assassinated by terrorists "'It is Too Soon to Thank God.' - The Assassination of Czar Alexander II"

15. IV. Reaction to Change Alexander III increased the power of the secret police, restored censorship, exiled critics, and began a program of Russification

16. V. Building Russian Industry Russia finally entered the industrial age in the 1890s The shell-shop of the Putilov works St Petersburg 1903

17. VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution War broke out between Russia and Japan in 1904 and Russia suffered one defeat after another

18. VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution Military losses and years of oppression led to wide spread protests Demonstrators march to the Winter Palace

19. VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution Bloody Sunday - Sunday, January 22,1905 - protesters were fired on by the czar’s troops and hundreds were killed or wounded

20. VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution Discontent exploded across Russia and Nicholas finally agreed to summon a Duma On May 6th, 1905 Czar Nicholas announced the implementation of the Fundamental Laws. Under the laws, a State Council was established to act as the upper house of the Duma. This upper house was controlled by Nicholas.

21. VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution In 1906 Nicholas dissolved the first Duma and appointed a new prime minister, Peter Stolypin

22. VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution Stolypin introduced legislation that enabled peasants to have more opportunity to acquire land. People living in rural areas also got more freedom in the selection of their representatives to the zemstvo. Stolypin instituted a new court system that made it easier for the arrest and conviction of political revolutionaries. Over 3,000 suspects were convicted and executed between 1906-09. As a result of this action the hangman's noose in Russia became known as "Stolypin's necktie". Stolypin sought to restore order and made some reforms, but was assassinated in 1911